Gina Birch is an English musician and filmmaker, best known as a founding member of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

rock band,

the Raincoats The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London. Signed to the label Rough Trade, th ...

. Born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, Birch attended

Nottingham High School for Girls Nottingham Girls' High School is an independent selective day school for girls aged 4–18, situated just north of Nottingham city centre. The school was founded in 1875 and forms part of the Girls' Day School Trust. History Nottingham Girls' ...

, and later the

Hornsey School of Art Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...

, where she formed The Raincoats with Ana da Silva in 1977. Following the first breakup of The Raincoats in 1984, Birch worked with experimental musician Mayo Thompson and his ensemble, Red Crayola, for a period in Germany. After this time, Birch formed the band Dorothy, with fellow ex-Raincoat Vicky Aspinall. The band was subsequently signed by Geoff Travis to Chrysalis Records. Following Dorothy's breakup, Birch matriculated at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It of ...

, where she studied film direction, and produced several dramas. In the early 1990s, The Raincoats were asked to perform on tour with grunge band

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. ...

, and were consequently invited to make an album by

DGC Records DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by the Universal Music Group. History DGC Records was launched in 1990 as a subsi ...

. This temporarily interrupted Birch's filmmaking endeavors. However, Birch did produce several music videos in this period, including the DVD video for The Libertines, released with their album. Gina has directed videos for Daisy Chainsaw, (2) The Libertines (3), Palma Violets, The Raincoats, Dorothy, and many others. She directed New Order's

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macr ...

with artist Simon Tyszko, as well as multiple video installations. Birch's musical career continued through the 1990s, with the 1998 release of album "

Slow Dirty Tears The Hangovers were a band formed by The Raincoats member, Gina Birch, along with former members of Voodoo Queens, Stereolab and Laika. History As well as Birch the band also featured actor/composer Simon Fisher Turner (guitar, keyboards), Ida A ...

", with The Hangovers, a band she had formed in 1996. In 2000 and 2007 Birch performed live at

Ladyfest Ladyfest is a Community organization, community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for feminist and women artists. Individual Ladyfests differ, but usually feature a combination of band (music), bands, musical groups, performa ...

, and continues to perform regularly in London. In September 2007, she performed at the

Modern Art Oxford Modern Art Oxford is an art gallery established in 1965 in Oxford, England. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The gallery presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It has a national and internationa ...

to commemorate the end of the museum's Stella Vine exhibition."An evening of Britpunk and Britart"
, Oxford Contemporary Music, 21 September 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2008. Additionally, Birch has performed with Hayley Newman and Kaffe Matthews, as The Gluts, playing in several art museums and festivals. Currently, Birch pursues painting, and continues to produce music for subsequent albums. Birch is married to Mike Holdsworth, with whom she has two daughters, Honey and Lei-Lei. On 1 October 2021, Birch released her debut solo single, "Feminist Song".

Discography

Singles

Notes and references

External links

Gina Birch official web site

Gina Birch myspace site

The Raincoats official web site

The Raincoats myspace site

2009 interview
1955 births Living people People from Nottingham English women singers English rock bass guitarists British post-punk musicians Women bass guitarists People educated at Nottingham Girls' High School The Raincoats members {{UK-singer-stub